Andrew Ortenberg
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I hope you all had a successful Sunday of NFL betting. Week 7 of the NFL brought a ton of excitement, but we’ve also got some MLB action to look forward to. More specifically, the World Series. The 2021 edition of the Fall Classic got set on Saturday night when the Atlanta Braves finished off the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. They’ll face off against the Houston Astros as Dusty Baker’s squad continues their revenge march.
It should be a fun series, and it gets started on Tuesday. The Astros are a modest betting favorite. DraftKings has Houston at -155, while the Braves are at +130. Will the Astros win their second championship in five years, or will Atlanta keep their magic going? Let’s break it all down. But first, don’t forget to check back on our MLB picks page for free picks on the side and total for every World Series game.
2021 World Series preview – Braves vs Astros
The Braves overcame a lot of adversity to get here. They struggled for most of the first half of the season and lost star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. to a torn ACL. But they caught fire down the stretch, finishing the year playing their best baseball. They just finally slayed the dragon, beating the Dodgers in 6 games in the NLCS.
It was an impressive display, especially considering they blew a 3-1 lead to the Dodgers last year in the NLCS. This team has come a long way mentally. Houston was also on a mission to prove a lot of people wrong and heal old wounds. They wanted to demonstrate that their sign-stealing scandal wasn’t the only reason for their prior success.
The Astros got this far on the strength of their offense, as they’ve scored at least 5 runs in 9 of their 10 playoff games. It’s unclear whether or not Houston starter Lance McCullers Jr. will be able to pitch at all in the World Series. That’s one of the biggest storylines to monitor entering the series.
Charlie Morton will take the ball for Atlanta in Game 1, while Framber Valdez toes the rubber for the Astros. In addition to Morton, the Braves will be relying on Max Fried and youngster Ian Anderson to start games. Now let’s get to the fun part, the World Series best bet:
Best bet: Braves +130
I’ve been high on this Braves team for a while. In the first round of the playoffs, they were my best bet to upset the Brewers at +125. I also had Atlanta as my best bet to win the World Series at 10/1 all the way back in March. They’ve made it this far, and I’m not changing my stance. What makes them a special team right now is that everyone is contributing.
The Braves have their stars in Freddie Freeman and Austin Riley, but other guys have been stepping up as well. Joc Pederson has been clutch in the playoffs, while Eddie Rosario looked like the best player in the league during the NLCS and is now hitting .474 in the postseason.
Perhaps more importantly, I like Atlanta’s pitching more. Anderson is 23, but the moment certainly hasn’t been too big for him thus far. He has a 2.25 ERA through 3 postseason starts. The injury to McCullers is huge, as he was playing lights-out in a couple of ALDS starts before getting hurt.
Houston will now be relying heavily on Valdez, who has been terrible in 2 of his 3 playoff starts, and Luis Garcia. Garcia is a 24-year-old who had one big-league start under his belt entering this year. Through 9 and 1/3 playoff innings so far, Garcia has given up 10 earned runs and allowed 7 walks. I’m not optimistic about how he’ll fare. The Braves are the play to bring home their first World Series since 1995.
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